


Take your Blueberry to work day

by RogueJones



Category: The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, M/M, Soft Husbands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26164966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RogueJones/pseuds/RogueJones
Summary: I got the image in my head of Alec Lightwood with a baby carrier strapped to his chest and it melted me.This is tooth-rotting fluff, people. Cute baby blue Max with Daddy.I haven't even proofed it, my dudes but I hope it makes somebody smile.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 12
Kudos: 172





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, I've added about five pages to the beginning of the original story.  
> Let me know what you think!

Raj walks stiffly and quickly through Alec’s open office door.  
“Alec, there’s something you need to see in the control room.”  
He says with his eyes darting back down the hallway and Alec rises from his chair with a matching worried look to follow Raj. Upon entering the control room of the Institute, Alec sees his sister joining a gathering around a table at the far end of the room.   
“What’s going on?”  
He tries for an authoritative tone but only Izzy turns towards him, with a puzzling look on her face.  
“Oh, Alec, it’s so sad.”  
More confused than ever, Alec shoulders his way through the crowd to find a small, orange, filthy, rolled up blanket on the table in front of him. He looks around to see if everyone is trying to pull something over on him but his head snaps back down when he hears the tiniest sound coming from the blankets.   
Alec reaches down to move a piece of the blanket and his eyebrows shoot up at the sight of an infant, no more than a few days old and completely blue. He can see tiny nubs on the baby’s forehead that look like they might be the beginning of horns, too.   
Everyone around him is staring down at the baby lying on the cold, hard table, with expressions ranging from sadness to disgust.  
Alec, with his slightly over-developed sense of protectiveness, leans down and carefully slips his hands under the baby, marvelling at the miniscule weight and size of it in his big hands. He shifts the tiny being around until he has it comfortably, if awkwardly, cradled in his arms.   
Darting an accusatory stare around the room, Alec’s voice is low with warning.  
“What happened?”  
Raj steps forward, as Izzy tucks in closer to Alec’s side, her worried eyes intent on the baby in her brother’s arms.  
“Somebody left him on the steps outside.”  
Raj says, his lips turning down with concern as Izzy caresses a finger down the baby’s cheek and Alec’s arms tighten slightly around the baby.  
“They just left him on the steps of the Institute in April? With nothing else? No note or anything?”  
There’s a quiet rage in his voice as Alec looks down at the helpless infant who isn’t even crying, just staring up at Alec with completely dark blue eyes as everyone else stays silent.  
“And you just dumped the baby on a hard table in the control room for everyone to gawk at?”  
Alec knows he’s redirecting his anger from the person who abandoned the baby to the people around him but he can’t seem to help it as he turns to slowly walk back to his office, Izzy hovering by his side.   
Striding towards his desk chair, Alec shifts the baby in his arms to yank his discarded sweater and leather jacket from the back of his chair and tosses them down on his desk before lying the baby down on top of them.  
“Izzy, could you find Mom? I think she’s up in the library.”  
Isabelle nods solemnly and skirts out of the room, leaving Alec staring down at the infant as it stares right back at him with a blank expression.  
“Well, little one, I don’t know a whole lot about babies, but I suppose I should check you over and make sure you’re okay. I promise I’ll be gentle.”  
Alec gives the baby his best smile as he very carefully starts unwrapping the dirty orange blanket.  
“Well, you certainly are blue… and a boy, it seems.”  
He says as his brow furrows at the discovery that the baby was wrapped in nothing but that dirty blanket.  
Alec frowns when the tiny boy shivers and immediately picks him back up, chucking the dirty blanket on the floor and wrapping his soft sweater around him instead. Holding the baby to his chest with one hand, Alec fishes his phone from the pocket of his pants and dials Magnus, putting the phone on speaker and placing it on the desk before returning both hands to the baby.  
Alec bounces slightly on his feet as he waits for his husband to pick up.  
“You’ve reached Magnus Bane. Leave a message and if I like you, I might call you back. *Beeeep*”  
Alec winces at getting voicemail but leaves a message anyway.  
“Mags, I need you here. Someone left a baby on the Institute front steps.”  
Alec hesitates.  
“He’s, ah… blue. Call me back, babe.”  
He can hear the sound of his mother’s heels on the hallway tiles as he ends the call and looks up in time to see Maryse marching through the doorway of his office with Isabelle right behind her.  
“Alec? What?...”  
Maryse sees the tiny baby in her son’s arms and jerks forward only to stop directly in front of them with a hand on her chest.  
“By the angel, that’s blue.”  
Alec gives his mother a beseeching look.  
“He was in nothing but that dirty blanket. They left him on the cold steps of the Institute in April, Mom.”  
Maryse’s face rises to see the angry, worried look on her son’s face and smiles sadly at him before taking charge of the situation.  
“Well, first things, first. He needs a nice bath to clean him up and get him warm, he’ll need diapers, something to warm to wear and a bottle of formula. And that’s just to start with.”  
Maryse turns to Isabelle with a raised brow of expectation and Isabelle smiles as she turns towards the door with a determined look. Before she can leave, a portal starts spinning at one side of the room and a slightly bewildered-looking Magnus steps out of it, staring at his phone.  
“Darling, your message was very confusing. What, exactly is blue…”  
Alec tips the baby away from his chest slightly to show his husband and watches Magnus’ eyes grow wide and Magnus hurries over to huddle in close to his husband and look at the baby.  
“That is blue.”  
Alec can feel himself getting emotional now that Magnus is here and tamps down on it.  
“Mom says he needs a bath, diapers, some clothes and milk.”  
Magnus smiles sweetly at Alec and takes a step back with a wink at Isabelle and Maryse.  
“That is no problem, my darling.”  
With a snap of his fingers, there’s a box of diapers, a couple soft blue onesies, a can of formula and an empty bottle sitting on Alec’s desk.  
Isabelle steps forward with a grin and a kiss for her brother-in-law’s cheek.  
“You just saved me a trip to the mundane stores. I don’t think I really know where to get any of this stuff anyway.”  
She says as she picks up the bottle to examine it. Alec is still lightly bouncing on his feet as he smirks at his sister and then he looks back down at the bundle in his arms.  
“You think it would be okay if I bathed him in the sink in my bathroom?”  
He asks no one in particular and everyone turns to Maryse expectantly since she’s the only one present who has actually had a baby this small.  
“I think that would be fine. Just make sure the water isn’t too hot and use only a very tiny amount of baby soap.”  
The three other adults follow Alec into his private bathroom and crowd around the sink as Maryse turns on the water and adjusts the temperature. Magnus magics a bottle of baby shampoo from thin air as Alec carefully places the baby into the sink.  
“He’s so small.”  
He croaks and Maryse, looking around his shoulder, nods.  
“When a baby is this young, you have to hold him up because they can’t do it themselves.”  
Magnus wets a washcloth and puts a dab of baby soap on it before handing it to Alec who is holding the little blue boy up with his other hand.  
“Okay, I got this. Right little man? Let’s get you cleaned up and niiiice and warm.”  
Alec awkwardly runs the cloth over the baby’s tummy and then grins excitedly as the little one starts kicking his legs and waving his arms wildly, making burbling noises.  
“He likes it.”  
A voice filters in from Alec’s office as Isabelle, Maryse and Magnus all smile down at the flailing baby in the sink.  
“Alec? Someone said there was a baby abandoned out front of the—Oh!”  
Jace stops short in the doorway of the small bathroom and seems speechless as he takes in the strangeness of seeing his brother washing a baby in the sink and that it seems to be a team effort.  
“Is he blue?”  
Jace finally asks and Magnus rolls his eyes at him as Isabelle steps back to nudge Jace’s shoulder, pushing him back into the office to explain.  
Alec goes back to bathing the baby with Maryse’ instruction and Magnus’ assistance.  
After a few minutes, they all emerge again from the bathroom to find Isabelle and Jace.  
“Jace, Isabelle, I need you to go over the footage from the cameras of the front steps, see if you can find out who left him here.”  
Alec says as he walks in the room and his siblings look relieved to have something familiar to do as they both leave immediately with a wave.  
The baby is now wrapped in an enormous towel from Alec’s bathroom and is cradled against Alec’s chest again. Magnus opens the box of diapers with a sceptical look and Maryse grabs up a warm-looking fleece onesie as Alec gently lays the baby, towel and all on his desk again.   
Alec, Magnus and Maryse start bickering about how to fasten a diaper properly and then how to wrangle the tiny infant into a piece of clothing that seemed illogically difficult to get on. Alec checks over their handiwork when they’re done and nods with satisfaction.  
Maryse is scooping formula into a bottle and disappears back into the bathroom for a moment before walking back out, shaking the bottle vigorously.  
“Magnus, would you mind?”  
She asks, holding out the bottle and Magnus, without taking his eyes off the baby nestled in Alec’s clothes on the desk, takes the bottle from her. Blue sparks roll over the bottle warming the formula to the perfect temperature as Magnus looks at Alec in question.  
“May I?”  
He asks Alec and watches his husband’s face closely as he hesitates before nodding and stepping back to allow Magnus to carefully pick up the baby. Magnus bounces as he walks over to sit down carefully in one of the leather armchairs near the fireplace, positioning the baby to be able to feed him.  
Alec is hovering over him like an adorable giant mother hen and Magnus smothers a remark as he looks down at the sweet face looking up at him.  
Magnus offers the baby the bottle and after a bit of confusion and a small yowl of frustration, Maryse leans over Magnus’ shoulder to firmly push the bottle into the baby’s mouth.  
“There you go little blueberry. Nothing better than a warm bath and a full tummy.”  
Alec crouches down in front of Magnus and the baby with a huge smile and they share a long look of agreement before Alec stands to address his mother.  
“Mom, Magnus and I can care for the baby until we can figure out what to do with him.”  
Maryse looks mildly surprised and then concerned for a moment.  
“I’m not sure we’ll be able to find his parents, Alec. They clearly don’t want him or can’t take care of him.”  
Maryse hesitates and places a comforting hand on Alec’s shoulder.  
“I’m sorry to say that, I don’t know many families that would take him in.”  
She says with a sad, apologetic expression and Alec’s brow furrows in protective anger.  
“Magnus?”  
His husband glances up from feeding the little cherub with a knowing look and holds his husband’s stare for a good long while.  
“Maryse, we will, of course, try to find any family that may be looking for him, but barring that, I think Alec and I would be willing to welcome him into our little family. Madzie will absolutely adore him.”  
Alec has a dopey, happy grin on his face and Maryse is staring proudly at her son with unshed tears in her eyes.  
Magnus looks back down at the now-sleeping baby in his arms and smiles.  
“You’ll be alright now, little blueberry.”

***

Alec is half-dozing, slumped down on the couch in the living room, he’s wearing stained joggers and the same t-shirt that he’s been wearing for three days. He can feel the stubble on his face and honestly can’t remember the last time he showered. Magnus, in a similar state of raggedness, is pacing the room with Blueberry in his arms, humming a wordless tune in an effort to get the baby to sleep.   
“Alec, darling, go have a shower and a nap.”  
Alec glances blearily up at his husband.  
“You sure?”  
Magnus smirks and nods.  
“Yes. You’re starting to rival the diaper bucket for smell, my love.”  
Alec makes a face and then summons the energy to push himself up, off the couch.  
The little blue dude has been with them for one month and Alec and Magnus’ lives are unrecognizable. Alec smiles as he pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it on the over-flowing laundry hamper in the bathroom.  
There’s at least one person who is nothing less than over-joyed at the new addition to their lives. Madzie took to Blueberry from the first moment Alec walked in the door of the apartment holding the tiny boy. 

Magnus opens the front door as quietly as he can and then hurries over to hush their daughter’s rather yell of greeting to her fathers.  
“Sorry, peanut but you need to be quiet for Daddy to show you the surprise.”  
He whispers and glances over at a curious-looking Clary from her place on the floor where she was colouring with Madzie.  
“Surprise?”  
Madzie whispers back conspiratorially as she looks over to where Alec is creeping carefully into the room, his arms full of blankets.  
Magnus takes his little girls’ hand and leads her over to where Alec is kneeling on the floor. Clary follows a few paces back and her breath catches on a sweet ‘Oh!’ as she catches sight of the tiny baby in Alec’s arms before Madzie does.  
The sweetest smile spreads across Madzie’s face as Alec holds the sleeping baby out slightly for her to see. She watches him intently for a few moments before looking up at her Dad.  
“Is he for me, Daddy?”  
Alec glances up at Magnus, his throat choked with emotion and Magnus kneels down beside them to hug Madzie around the waist and pull them all in close.  
“Well, we are trying to find out if he belongs to anyone, sweetness. But if there’s no one out there looking for him, we might keep him here with us. Is that something you’d be okay with, darling?”  
Madzie’s smile widens as she leans over to have another look at the baby.  
“You could be my brother if you don’t have anybody.”  
She whispers and Alec turns to share a moment with his husband before Magnus leans in to kiss him softly.  
Clary quietly slips out the door, leaving the little family to their tender moment.

Alec walks out of the shower and into the living room with only a towel around his hips and smiles at the large painting on the far wall of that very moment. Clary had almost run home to paint the scene from the discreet picture she snapped before she had left.   
She had presented the painting to them a couple days ago when Alec and Magnus announced that they would be officially adopting the little blue baby and that they had decided to name him Max.  
There were tears in everyone’s eyes that day.  
***

There is a high-pitched squeal from the Institute’s main control room a few seconds after Alec walks off the elevator and he stops trying to sneak around the room towards his office with an amused sigh. He glances down at the baby boy strapped to his chest and waits for his sister to make her way over to them.  
This is the first time Max has been back to the Institute since he was abandoned on it’s front steps.  
When the tiny bundle had been brought inside, Alec remembers how small and fragile he had seemed. He was just this tiny blue baby, completely helpless and without a friend in the big, scary world.  
His heart had melted, and he had called a rather confused Magnus immediately to tell him to find baby supplies.  
That was over six months ago and Max had taken over their lives ever since.  
“You know, I used to be good at being sneaky.”  
He says to Max and the boy burbles happily up at him as Izzy ducks around tables and screens to stop in front of Alec with a huge grin for her nephew.  
“Oh, Max you get cuter every time I see you, little blueberry.”  
Alec has a lop-sided smirk on his handsome face as he watches his sister fawn over his son. The paperwork had gone through a few days ago and Alec, Magnus and Maddsy were so excited to have Max as an official member of their little family.  
“Magnus was supposed to watch him this morning, but Papa got called away on warlock business and I only have the one council meeting this morning, so big man is with Daddy at work today.”  
Izzy is still grinning at Max but speaks to her brother.  
“I can watch him during the meeting if you like. Mom’s around here somewhere too and I’m sure she and I can handle it. Where’s Madzie?”  
Alec bounces Max a bit to keep him from fussing as he starts moving towards his office again.  
“She’s hanging out with Jace at the apartment and he called over Clary and Maia for backup. I think he’s planning on taking her to the park, then out for ice cream and Clary’s bringing over some art supplies.”  
Izzy’s walking beside Alec through the control room while he smiles at the grinning faces pointed towards him and mentally notes the odd frowning face pointed at his noticeably cornflower blue son.  
The institute and the Clave have come a long way in a short time, but Alec knows that there are still a lot of people here who don’t look favourably on things like homosexuality or downworlders.  
It’s one thing for Magnus to prance around the Institute like he owns the place while he’s here helping out, but Alec is throwing a bit of a gamble that his son’s adorableness will supersede any animosity in the air around here.  
Alec caresses Max’s soft little, chubby cheek and Izzy keeps chattering away until they’re standing by his office door and he’s rummaging through the baby bag for his office keys. He leads the way inside with Izzy behind him as he dumps the extra bag on his desk.  
Izzy holds out her arms and Alec unstraps the carrier to carefully transfer Max before he stows a couple bottles of milk in the mini fridge across the room.  
“Oh, we are going to have a great time, aren’t we Max? Yes, we are!”  
Izzy is cooing to a giggling Max as she settles on the carpet with him and turns her face up to talk to Alec.  
“When’s the meeting?”  
Alec looks at his watch and flinches slightly.  
“In five minutes. Are you ok with Max in here?”  
He asks as he walks over to shuffle through the papers and folders on his desk.  
“Of course, Mom should be here any minute.”  
Alec grabs up the needed paperwork and kneels with a smile to give his little boy a kiss on his downy head.  
“Technically Mom is supposed to be at the meeting with me, but tell her I’ll brief her later. I already know and agree with her stance on what to do about the newbie vamp attacks. There are some toys and snacks in the bag and bottles in the fridge if he gets hungry.”  
Max is reaching his little chubby arms up to Alec as he stands, and Alec smiles down at him.  
“You’re gonna stay here and play with Auntie Izzy, and Gramma will be here for cuddles in a minute, ok buddy? Daddy’ll be back soon.”  
Unable to resist that sweet little face, Alec crouches down for one more hug and kiss before Izzy distracts Max enough for Alec to make his getaway.

***

When Alec arrives in the conference room, everyone is already seated at the large table, an annoyed-looking Raphael at the far end of the table.  
“Please excuse my late arrival.”  
Alec says to the others assembled before his mother rises and meets him by the door, lowering her voice towards him.  
“If Isabelle is okay with Max for a few minutes, I just had a couple points to make and then I’ll go help her.”  
Alec nods as he walks over to take his seat and starts organizing his papers.  
“Usually the High Warlock of Brooklyn would be here, but sadly he was called away this morning.”  
Raphael leans in over his clasped hands on the table with a suspicious look.  
“I hope its nothing that the rest of us should be concerned with.”  
He inquires leadingly and Alec gives him a reassuring smile.  
“Not at all. One of his warlocks is having trouble with a client and Magnus went to give him some support.”  
The meeting starts and for the next few minutes, Alec’s mind is solely on the matter of the vicious attacks on a handful of newbie vampires as they rose from the grave and how to handle it.  
Midway through making a point Alec hears a now-familiar ‘whooshing’ sound in the air beside him and quickly lunges out to catch the blue baby that falls giggling from the portal.  
The meeting comes to an abrupt halt as Alec sits Max on the table in front of him and tries to give him a scolding look.  
“Dadadada!”  
Max says as he crawls into Alec’s arms and the door of the conference room bursts open. A very frazzled-looking Isabelle runs in and stops short with a giant sigh of relief as she sees Max in his father’s arms.  
“By the angel, Max you scared me! Alec, I didn’t know he could portal like that!”  
Alec gives his sister a sheepish expression over Max’s shoulder.  
“Sorry, I forgot to mention it. He’s only done it a couple times and it’s only been to find me or Magnus.”  
Alec cuddles Max closer and rubs his back.  
“Mags still can’t figure out how he’s doing it. He said warlocks don’t usually learn how to portal until they’re adults.”  
Max curls into Alec’s chest with a sleepy sigh and Alec gives everyone an apologetic look.  
“Sorry about this. Max gets a bit scared when either Magnus or myself aren’t around.”  
The non-Lightwoods in the room are all staring agog at the soft blue boy with tiny horns growing from his forehead, now snuggled tightly against Alec.  
Alec looks around the table again.  
“I apologize. Is it alright with everyone if he just naps here while we continue?”  
There are a few confused nods and a couple smiles and Alec motions to Izzy that its okay and she backs out of the room, winking at Meliorn once before closing the door.  
“Alright, where were we?”  
Alec asks as he leans back and shifts a sleepy Max into a more comfortable position.  
Raphael’s eyes are fixed on Max as he speaks.  
“Look, forget the politics of it all, all my people are requesting is an extra shadowhunter or two if there’s to be a rebirth. We don’t always know when it’s happening but if you could keep an extra shadowhunter on call most nights for the next couple months, the night children would be grateful.”  
Alec is absently stroking Max’s forehead and subtly rocking the tiny sleeping boy side-to-side as he considers the request.  
“Would you mind if it was Jace? He’s usually looking for a bit of violence before bed.”  
Raphael considers and although he doesn’t look pleased at the prospect of Jace being put on this assignment, he nods in agreement.  
“Great, if no one else has issue with that, then its agreed. If Jace is unavailable, I can make sure that another shadowhunter will be put on call. Now does anyone else have pressing business for this meeting?”  
Alec looks at everyone gathered in turn and then nods decisively.  
“Great. I will see you all at next month’s meeting. Thank you all for coming and please pardon me if I don’t rise to shake your hands today.”  
Alec smiles apologetically.  
“My hands are kind of full.”  
Everyone starts rising from their seats and Meliorn starts for the door after a friendly wave in Alec’s direction. Maryse, Luke and Raphael all wander over to peek at the adorable sleeping baby in Alec’s arms.  
“Fatherhood suits you, Alec.”  
Luke says with a grin before he backs towards the door and a smiling Maryse gives Alec a quick kiss on the cheek before following Luke out.  
Alec carefully pushes out his chair and leans backwards slightly, getting more comfortable because he knows if he tries to move Max, he’ll wake up from his nap and stay cranky all day.  
Raphael is leaning against the large table and watching Max with intense concentration for several moments before speaking.  
“I prefer you this way. Fatherhood has made you a better man, Alec.”  
Alec can’t cover his surprise at the vampire’s confession and Raphael smiles as he pushes away from the table and meanders towards the door.  
“The changes you have begun within the Clave are a welcome change and have gone a long way towards maintaining the tentative peace we have now.”  
Alec truly doesn’t know how to respond to Raphael’s kind, if not cryptic, words.  
“It wasn’t just me… but thank you, Raphael.”  
The vampire nods once and disappears out the conference room door and Alec looks down at his sleeping baby.  
“You’re already winning everyone over, little man.”

***

Magnus is in an annoyed mood after dealing with that rude customer of Catarina’s but he forgets all about it after Izzy points towards the conference room from across the Institutes control room floor and Magnus walks over to open the door and find the cutest scene he could have imagined.  
His dashing husband has his feet propped up on the large table and is slouched down in one of the leather business chairs, his head is tipped back and he’s snoring softly with their tiny, blue nibblet curled up in his strong arms.  
Magnus quietly closes the door behind him and just watches them for a moment before taking out his phone and snapping a picture of his loves.  
Max must have sensed him in the room and the little tyke opens his eyes and starts climbing up Alec’s chest, jerking the shadowhunter awake and he looks up to grin at Magnus.  
The warlock walks over to lean down and kiss Alec softly for a moment before scooping Max out of his arms and tossing him in the air. Max giggles loudly and happily slaps his chubby hands against Magnus’ face.  
“Papapapa”  
Magnus kisses Max’s belly and turns to accept more kisses from Alec.  
“He portalled again. From my office where Izzy was watching him to the conference room where I had to catch him again.”  
Alec shares a concerned look with Magnus as they wander towards his office.  
“Hmm, this is getting concerning. I spoke briefly with Catarina about it but she had no ideas either besides a magical block on his powers for the interim.”  
Alec thought that over for a few moments as he walked around his office collecting baby paraphernalia and packing it back into the baby bag. He hands Magnus one of the bottles of milk from the fridge and Magnus snaps his fingers to magically warm it before taking it from him and offering it to Max, who gobbles it down hungrily.  
“We may have to. I mean right now he’s only portalling to us and we’ve been able to catch him before he falls but what happens if he opens the portal on the ceiling and we don’t notice?”  
The men shutter at the thought and give each other a hard look, nodding in unhappy agreement and Magnus looks down at Max sadly.  
“I’ll work on it tonight and see what I can come up with. I don’t want to rush anything.”  
Alec leans over to give Magnus a tender kiss on the forehead.  
“It’s for his own safety. Max is special but he needs to learn to control his magic so he doesn’t hurt himself or anyone else.”  
Magnus nods is silent agreement and they leave for home, where the last member of their little family waits for them.


	2. Late night talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus is angry.  
> Alec soothes him.  
> The end of the previous chapter bothered me so I wrote another tiny chapter to shut my brain up.

It’s past 3 am when Alec shuffles down the hallway of their apartment in an old t-shirt and sweats, in search of his missing husband. Upon finding him, Alec walks up behind Magnus in his office chair and leans in to rub his warlock’s stiff shoulders.  
“Why are you still up?”  
He whispers to Magnus’ as he places a tender kiss under his ear and Magnus tilts his head to let him.  
“I’m still working on the containment spell for Max.”  
Alec moves to lean his back against the desk beside Magnus’ chair, studying his frustrated face as Magnus slumps back in his chair, tossing his pen onto the desk angrily.  
“I hate this. I hate making a spell to essentially strip my son of what makes him special!”  
He says in an angry huff and Alec takes several long moments to think over his words as he rubs a bit of sleep from one eye.  
“We should talk to Jace.”  
The deeply confused and slightly concerned look Magnus gives him makes Alec smirk.  
“Think about it. Jace is the most gifted shadowhunter, probably ever. He was trained by Valentine since birth, taught to hone his skills to perfection for the first ten years of his life.”  
Magnus tips his head in concession to Alec’s point but lets his husband continue.  
“Back then, he wasn’t condescending or bragging, he knew he was the best… because he was.”  
Alec drops his gaze to the floor with a grin, lost in memory.  
“He didn’t get cocky until he had an audience… a female audience.”  
Magnus smiles at Alec’s chuckle and watches his face sober slightly.  
“But when he came to us, that was almost literally all he knew how to do. He only knew enough cooking to keep himself alive, he didn’t know how to share or relate to people… he was a semi-functional idiot.”  
Alec holds up a hand towards Magnus in anticipation of his comment and Magnus snaps his mouth shut with a smirk as Alec rolls his eyes.  
“Yes, he’s still an idiot, but at least he’s learned that there’s more to life that shadowhunting. He has hobbies and friends.”  
Magnus seems to be processing Alec’s words as he stares off into the space above his desk.  
“So, what you’re saying is that suppressing Max’s powers will make him… well-rounded?”  
Alec rolls out Magnus’ chair with his foot to crouch in front of him, bringing him to eye-level with his warlock.  
“Mags, I’m saying Max is special but that shouldn’t define him; it shouldn’t be all there is to him. I’m hoping that by keeping him safe, he can figure out who he is without his powers, and then when he’s old enough to stay safe on his own, we can, uh… I dunno, do you loosen spells, or is it more of an on/off kind of thing?”  
He ends with an adorable confused expression and a smiling Magnus leans forward to hold Alec’s face in his hands as he gives him a sweet, lingering kiss.  
“Thank you, Alexander.”  
He kisses him again and tugs him to stand with him.  
“You’ve given me a new perspective.”  
Alec smiles down at his love as he takes his hand in his own.  
“That’s what I’m here for.”  
Magnus pulls Alec towards their bedroom with a lusty look.  
“But not all you’re here for, which I feel inspired to help you remember…”  
Alec follows his husband eagerly through the door, closing it quietly behind him.


End file.
